| Microsoft, Novell announce Linux partnership |
Nov. 02, 2006
 [Updated 1:50 PM PDT] -- Sources close to Novell indicate that a deal with Microsoft concerning Linux will be announced today, Nov. 2, at 2 PM Pacific time in San Francisco.
While this may sound as likely as George Bush and John Kerry singing a duet together, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft Corp. will be announcing it will offer sales support for Novell Inc.'s SUSE Linux family. In addition, the two companies will work together on technologies that will make it easier for users to run both SLED (SUSE Enterprise Linux Desktop) 10 and Windows XP and Vista on the same desktop.
On top of this, Microsoft, according to the WSJ, is expected to announce that it won't use its patents against any software incorporated into SUSE Linux.
Historically, Novell and Microsoft have been arch-rivals long before Linux entered the picture. Under Ray Noorda, Novell's recently deceased legendary former CEO, the companies fought like cats and dogs over the early network server market.
Before Linux was a gleam in Linus Torvalds' eye, Microsoft with NT and Novell with NetWare warred over the PC local area networks. Eventually, Microsoft won, but it was never an easy battle and several lawsuits following in its wake.
In 2004, Microsoft announced that it was paying $536 million to end an antitrust battle with Novell. Novell had brought anti-trust actions against Microsoft because of what it saw as Microsoft's illegal actions against NetWare. In return, Novell withdrew from the then current legal case against Microsoft in the European Union.
This, however, was not the end of Novell and Microsoft butting heads. The very same week that the NetWare anti-trust action had been settled, Novell sued Microsoft for damages arising from Microsoft's efforts to eliminate competition in the office application market during the mid-'90s, when Novell owned the WordPerfect word-processing application and the Quattro Pro spreadsheet application.
While part of this lawsuit has been thrown out, the case is still in court. It's quite possible, if Microsoft and Novell do announce a significant deal today, that putting this issue to rest will be part of it.
To date, although the two companies have done some work together with Netware, GroupWise, Windows, and Exchange interoperability, there has been no collaboration of any real significance. In particular, Novell and Microsoft have not worked together before with anything to do with Linux. Of course, Microsoft has never really done anything to make life easier for Linux interoperability.
In today's event, both Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian are expected to speak in a joint press conference. At that time, further details on with appears to be a revolutionary deal will be revealed.
Watch this space for more news following the press conference.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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